


Burning House - Caleo

by star_kindler



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Leo Valdez Needs a Hug, Mythology References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-20 03:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20220850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/star_kindler/pseuds/star_kindler
Summary: "I've been sleepwalking // Too close to the fire// But it's the only place that I can hold you tight //In this burning house"Kinda inspired by the song "Burning House" by Cam, I wrote this over two years ago in Italian and I published it on wattpad and, more recently, here on AO3. A couple of weeks ago the amazing @alkery_star ( archiveofourown.org/users/alkery_star/pseuds/alkery_star ) reached out and offered to edit the translated version, so here we are! Make sure to check out her Tumblr too, @av-ky, this all couldn't be possible without her ♥





	Burning House - Caleo

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Burning House - Caleo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705639) by [star_kindler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/star_kindler/pseuds/star_kindler). 

> Edited by alkery_star (archiveofourown.org/users/alkery_star/pseuds/alkery_star), also @av-ky on Tumblr!
> 
> Missing moment set between "The House of Hades" and "The Blood of Olympus"

Leo was sitting on the beach, Calypso beside him, unaware of how long he’d been there. Time felt like a haze, slipping from his grasp like the grains of sand between his fingers, retreating like the washing waves along the shore. Leo gave it no mind. When he was with her, nothing really mattered, not even the ticking passage of time.

They were having a picnic like they used to, before he first left Ogygia. A red and white checkered blanket was sprawled beneath them, and ceramic plates and hand-woven baskets surrounded them, each full of fruits bursting with colours. The sun was bright, but not too intense, and Leo could feel its gentle rays bathing him in light. The wind tousled his hair, carrying the taste of sea salt through the summer air.

Everything was perfect.

Too perfect, if he dared to say it.

“Tell me more about Camp Half-Blood,” Calypso said as she popped a grape into her mouth.

“I’ve already told you everything,” he smiled, but it quickly dropped. “I barely spent six months there, which is like, nothing, compared to the others. Some have been there since they were seven, and others spent their entire lives there. They’ve made more memories at Camp than anywhere else, but me…” he paused.

“...You miss it,” she smiled softly.

He opened his mouth to deny the claim, but the words never came. He did. She wasn’t wrong. “Just a little,” he admitted, almost shyly. It-it’s the only place I’ve ever truly felt at home since-” his voice cracked. Leo swallowed hard, trying to pull his thoughts together.

He stole a quick glance at Calypso. She was sitting patiently, quietly waiting for his answer.

Leo swallowed again. “Since my mother’s death,” he said. But this time, he didn’t feel the usual burn in his throat, or the ropes that twisted his words into knots. This time, it almost felt… freeing.

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

Leo was silent, just for a second. Trying to gather himself.

When he spoke again, the words came more easily. “I haven’t stayed there for very long, but I feel like I have a family, y’know? The kind of family you choose.” He looked down at his shoes.

“I’d love to meet them someday- your friends. They sound like amazing people.”

“They are.”

“But… your stories, they all sound so strange to me. This island has been my home for thousands of years, too many to remember the outside world. I can’t imagine living anywhere else, but at the same time, I want to leave, to explore the world you tell me so much about.”

“Well then, it’s your lucky day, Sunshine! This Bad Boy Supreme is here to show you the world that’s out there!” he exulted, gesturing towards the vast ocean around them. The mood switch was quick, but it was easy to smile with Calypso by his side. When she was with him, he felt as though his problems had melted away at his feet, and nothing mattered but the perfect moments they spent together.

Calypso started laughing and soon Leo joined her. It was amazing to be finally able to be together, after too much, much time spent fighting and hurting. No worries, just the two of them sitting on the beach like normal teenagers, talking and sharing secrets. Leo closed his eyes and he put his arm around her shoulders; and for a moment, just one short moment, he felt truly close to her, he felt at home.

But soon he realized that something was wrong: he felt like Calypso was vanishing under his touch and the fresh marine breeze had stopped suddenly.

Calypso began to laugh, her voice as clear as a melody. It was beautiful, like a song, and Leo quickly joined her. He was so happy to be with her again, to hear her laughs and see her smile, after too much. Too much pain, too much blood, too much death. It had been too long since he could truly relax, truly breathe. It had been too long since he could lie in the earth without the knot of fear in his stomach, the fear that kept him up at night and wore him away in the day, the fear of being betrayed or killed or captured. There were no worries, just the two of them sitting on the beach like normal teenagers, talking and sharing secrets. Leo closed his eyes as he put his arm around her shoulders, and for a moment, just one short moment, he felt truly close to her. For just one short moment, Leo felt at home.

And like the retreating waves of the ocean, pulling from the shore, the moment slipped away.

Something felt wrong, Leo could feel it. He didn’t know what it was, only that something was so, terribly wrong.

It felt as though Calypso was… disappearing. Disintegrating. Turning to dust beneath his touch.

The marine breeze that once drifted through the cool air had seemingly vanished, and Leo felt as though the beach had disappeared beneath them.

His eyes opened, and although Calypso was still beside him, her screams were muted in his ears, as though she were a million miles away. Her smiles and laughter was replaced by shock and fear, and when they stood up, Leo realized they were no longer on the beach. An infinite expanse of black surrounded them, fire crackling around them. He could feel the smoky singe of sparks against his hair, the waves heat on his skin, the crackle of flames in his ears. And although fire was never much of a bother to him, he knew Calypso couldn’t survive the heat. Her hands were clasped over her mouth as she coughed and gagged, struggling to breathe in the dense, black smoke choking the air.

Leo could barely see as he threw himself towards her- his walk quickly paced into a run, but Calypso only seemed to grow farther and farther from his reach. The flames were closer now, and although he couldn’t hear anything but the crackle of the fire, he could see her mouth open in a scream as a wall of flames burst between them, and Calypso faded into the darkness.

A scream tore from his throat as he pushed forward, trying to quell the flames. His hand launched forwards, trying to reach her, but everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.

His hand lunged forwards, and instead of the empty space, Leo’s knuckles hit something hard.

He pulled his hand back instinctively, and suddenly, the flames were gone. The pale wood of the ceiling above him blurred into focus, and Leo realized he had hit the bookshelf beside him. He could feel a soft bed beneath him- the Argo II. He was still on the Argo II.

He hadn’t returned to Ogygia.

They hadn’t won the war.

And worse of all, he had never met Calypso that second time.

Dreams were the only place in the world where he could see her. Be with her. Be hopeful enough to believe that it wasn’t all a lie.

He rarely slept in his bed since he returned. He always found some excuse to sleep on the sofa, or pretended to have fallen asleep in the engine room or his workspace, and sometimes even stayed up early enough chatting with Hazel to fall asleep on her bedroom floor.

Sometimes, when the pain was so bad, Leo would find any excuse to stay up.

He thought he’d be okay by now. He thought the nightmares that plagued his sleep, taunting him, those horrible first nights since he left Ogygia were gone.

Leo doubted he’d ever been so wrong.

He sat up, head still spinning, and placed his feet against the cool wood of the floor beneath him. His hands were still trembling and he could barely get a grip on the floor beneath him.

Leo wandered across the ship, trying to distract himself. It was still early and the sun had barely risen, but he couldn’t go back to sleep, not when the nightmares were still so fresh in his mind, not when he knew only nightmares awaited him.

He could fix something, that usually got his mind off his problems. Try to clear his head and focus his energy on tinkering with metal, electricity and fire. Something that didn’t wrench his heart out every time he thought of it.

The ship was in unusually good condition, with Leo having used this strategy for a bit over a week now, but there were always things to improve. If something couldn’t be fixed, it could always be made more efficient, or faster, or lighter, and in a last-case scenario, more “aesthetically pleasing.” Piper had taught him that phrase, and Leo hadn’t forgotten it since.

Leo found himself wandering into the engine room. Always a good place to start; there was always something to fix. Leo grabbed the wrench from the worktable and immediately got to work. The design was almost flawless, but it could always be more compact, maybe a little cleaner for anyone else to work it if he were ever unavailable.

He used the term “unavailable” loosely, but Leo knew exactly what he meant by the words. A trip to a mysterious nonexistent island might occupy a lot of his time, after all…

If it was even possible to get back there at all.

Leo dropped the wrench, watching it hit the wooden floor. He leaned back against the wall, and he slid onto the floor, his head falling in his hands. His eyes squeezed shut, his hands pulling at his hair in frustration.

Everything about that dream was fake. He knew that, above anything else. It wasn’t even the first time he’d had one like that, but Leo couldn’t stop thinking about it. He couldn’t stop thinking about the way Calypso screamed out to him, the way he lunged towards her, the way she was pulled from his grasp so easily, just like that.

He sat like that, on the cold floor of the engine room in the faded sunrise light, until sleep washed over him. Almost like a blessing, almost like a curse.

Leo heard someone sit down beside him, gently, staring at him with soft hazel eyes. He turned to look at her, Calypso, as she smiled and took his hand in hers.

“You’ll come back to me, Leo, I know you will. You’ll come back to me, and dreams won’t be the only place where we can be together.”

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, let me thank once again @alkery_star, who edited my poor written English version and transormed it in something amazing!
> 
> I've been trying to write the end notes for ten minutes now, but I can't find the right words, argh! So, let's just say that I LOVE Calypso and Leo, and everything related to them. Rick really blessed us with on of the best ships of the world and I'll be forever grateful for that. Three days ago I was in the Pantheon, in Rome, silently fangirling in front of Tomb of Raphael because "Damn, Leo Valdez was here!" (with my friend silently judging me but whatever).
> 
> Any comment or Kudo would make me the happiest girl on the planet, but, more importantly, I hope you enjoyed this little work, and thank you so much for taking your time to read it! 
> 
> \- Anna


End file.
